Street paving projects funded by a $9.2 million bond issue, employee pay raises coupled with an increase in the minimum wage for city employees and the implementation of a city-funded medical clinic for employees and their families were among the highlights for the Board of Mayor and Aldermen in 2016, Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said.

Flaggs attributed the accomplishments to the work of the board, which he said has been able to get programs underway and practice fiscal responsibility.

“We’ve been able to work together,” he said. “It’s been a great board. Since the first day (it took office), there’s been less than five votes taken when we didn’t have a unanimous vote.”

He said the city has been able to keep its finances in the black “because of a progressive fiscal structure for the city. We’ve been great stewards of the taxpayers’ money.

“I have to commend (North Ward Alderman) Michael (Mayfield) and (South Ward Alderman) Willis (Thompson). Everything (fiscal) that has been put on the table (and) I have suggested to them, they’ve gone along with it.”

The $9.2 million is the first part of a total of $18 million in general obligations bonds approved by the city.

Street paving was the first bond issue-funded project to get under way in 2016, with 16 streets paved in the South Ward in two phases. Two of the city’s main streets in the North Ward, Mission 66 and Martin Luther King Boulevard were completely repaved, and several streets in Cedar Hill Cemetery were also paved. Mission 66 and Martin Luther King were also rebuilt from the roadbed to the new surface, and damaged sewer, storm drain and water pipes under the streets were repaired or replaced before paving began.

The board in July raised the minimum wage for city workers employed by the city for longer than six months to $8.25 an hour, and approved 3 percent pay raises for all city employees except department heads, who received a 2 percent bump in pay.

Fire Chief Charles Atkins and deputy chiefs Craig Danczyk and Kenneth Daniels were the only administrators to receive a dollar-specific raise. Atkins received a $10,000 raise, while Danczyk and Daniels each received $3,500. The fire department training officer will get a $2,792 raise.

Flaggs said the raises were approved to bring the fire department administrators’ pay more in line with their counterparts in the police department.

The city’s employee clinic, which opened Nov. 1, was approved by the board as a way to reduce employee health insurance costs by providing employees and their families a place to go for health issues without having to pay a copay. The clinic will also work on wellness programs with city employees.

The program will cost the city $37,000 a month. However, if after the first six months there are no savings in medical costs, the city will not have to pay until savings are shown.

Looking into 2017, Flaggs said he plans to use the balance of the city’s $18 million and continue capital improvements.

“It’s absolutely imperative we do more street paving,” he said, “And we’re going to need it for the water treatment plant and to make some other improvements to the city.”

City officials face an estimated $4 million in repairs and upgrades to the city’s water treatment plant on Haining Road, which was shut down twice in August and September, forcing officials to issue boil water notices.

Flaggs also wants to look at ways to get affordable housing in Vicksburg, and for housing opportunities in the Kings community on the east side of North Washington Street and the Kuhn Hospital property once the buildings are razed and the property cleared.

“The North Ward continues to be the place where we demolish the most houses,” he said. “They keep demolishing houses with no replacements that’s why Kuhn is so important; it’s my first priority to develop that site; that’s the heart of the city.

Flaggs also wants to see the city take final action on a sports complex on Fisher Ferry Road. A public meeting is set for Jan. 9 at the Vicksburg Auditorium for Georgia-based Sports Force to present its report on the property and an artist’s conception of the proposed park.

But Flaggs said his top priority is to change the city’s 1912 charter to provide more accountability in city government. The board will discuss the proposed changes when it meets Tuesday.

“I think the most important thing to the city going forward, regardless of who’s the mayor of the city, is the charter,” he said. “I’m not asking for additional authority. I’m asking to clarify the authority so you can hold people accountable for the government service we provide to the people. This is bigger than the man in the office; this is about structural and functional responsibility.

“I hope people understand all I’m trying to do is give them a pathway to the future so the city of Vicksburg can be competitive economically as any other city. I just want to do what’s right.”